The 154 SST works extremely well on pretty much anything out of the 7. I've taken groundhogs, pronghorn, whitetail, mulies, a couple of caribou, red stags, elk.. oh and I shot a red squirrel with one once too! Interestingly, while the SST will shoot 5/8" all day long out of my gun the 154 Interbond will not. I've never been a fan of "premium" bullets anyway because I'm a true believer in the only thing premium is the price. I make this comment in the context that the "non premium" bullets work great and in a lot of cases much better when the game is smaller and the impact velocity isn't as high so I've had no need to pay more money for the same or worse results.

The only one I've ever recovered was from a caribou shot at 335yds quartering away. The bullet went through about 42" of animal and stuck in hide after blowing out the shoulder. I cleaned it up it weighs 88 grains. About 1/2" diameter jagged edge mushroom with about an 1/8" of bullet shank on the bottom.

I have shot a pile of whitetails on crop damage shooter permits and hunting , well over 50 deer with the 7mm 139gr. SST bullets. I send them at 2950fps and they have all peformed well. I think most problem come from over driving them. Most bullets don't hold up well if if driven over thied designed velocity range. The guys shooting light for caliber bullets out of big magnum rifles are setting themselves up for failure. Also , IMHO the barnes bullets are a poor work around for a bad california law. They have no place outside of a no lead zone. Putting the heavier than lead metal in the base is a good idea but the price is crazy high. As for meat damage , don't shoot them in the shoulders and expand the bullet in good meat , shoot just behind the shoulder and destroy the back of both lungs.

I just started reloading the 162gn SST's for my 280. Thinking of switching to the 154gn Interbonds though. I'm loading the 139gn Interbonds for my daughters 7mm-08. I don't have any experience yet on taking game with them as I have just been shooting them at the range. I'm hoping the Interbond perform well though, I plan on using them on deer and elk.

The 162sst is made for elk sized game with a velocity around 2850 to 3150. You don't need a bonded core bullet. Most people get poor accuracy from bonded bullets and pay more for it

+1 I don't recommend the Interbond unless you are going for elk or moose because normally it will not expand properly on deer sized game. I use their BTSPs on deer and antelope and go to the Interbond for elk. None have failed me yet.

I hunt with a 6.8 AR and last year I switched to SST 120g bullets. Took a 260lb Kansas Whitetail Buck with it. Only a 50 yard shot head-on. Absolutely liquified his internals after going right through his heart. Devastating result.